Embracing Ember (10 page)

***

Ceylon placed the meal Ember had chosen to purchase on the table while Ember had a much needed shower. They had visited Landon at the jail that morning and he wanted to hurt Ember’s former mate in very cruel ways when he saw the terror on her face when she finally saw him. Her face had drained of color and her hands trembled. She allowed him to hold her hands, but he could tell she wasn’t there with him. She had retreated into herself. Landon stood there looking at her with a smile. It was chilling to watch. He could still remember the conversation.

“Well, well, well, looks as if my wife has finally decided to come to her senses,” Landon said the malice in his voice ill-hidden. His eyes settled on Ceylon and took in their hands and the rage coming off of Landon was stifling. Ember actually whimpered.

“I-I came to… I..,” Ember started but her eyes had filled with tears and she had looked up at him as if lost. How had she lived with this man for so long being so afraid of him? He gave her hand a squeeze and nodded. She took a deep breath and looked her former mate in the eyes before stating in a stronger voice, “I am here to have you sign the divorce papers that I filed months ago. I will not allow myself to be victimized anymore.”

Ceylon had never had need to use his training that each Salinian received in the event they needed to protect themselves. Landon had been sitting quietly, almost patiently while Ember tried to speak. His façade dissolved within moments and he was attempting to come over the table at Ember. Ceylon saw red and tackled him to the floor, his grasp cutting off Landon’s air supply. “Know this, Landon. She is no longer your mate. No longer yours to hurt and terrorize and if you wish to live then you will cease and treat her with the respect she deserves,” Ceylon had stated. Of course, he didn’t stop and eventually passed out from lack of oxygen, but not before he had vowed to kill Ember.

When Ceylon looked up Ember was in the doorway dancing on her feet, as if nervous to come into the kitchen. Ceylon opened his arms and she came into his embrace. So trusting, it had broken his heart to see the terror that her mate had wrought. He would ensure her happiness. But how could he ensure her happiness, she wasn’t his mate. He had vowed that she would be taken care of, but he couldn’t be her mate. His guilt would eat away at him and eventually destroy them both. Besides, why would she want become someone else’s mate when her old one hurt her so badly? She wouldn’t. He could hold her, because she trusted him enough to do that. He could keep her safe until she decided she could take care of herself, and he could hurt like he did when Ashwin died when she finally left.

But, she was here now and in his arms, snuggling deeper into his embrace. “Are you hungry, sweetheart?” he asked.

“Yes,” she whispered. He peered down into her green eyes and was lost. Her pink, pouty lips just begged to be kissed, and he was a very weak man. He kissed her gently catching her sigh as he opened his mouth to deepen the kiss. She followed him, thrusting her tongue into his mouth. Her hands trailed up his chest, encircling his neck as she pulled herself flush against him. She was an unmated female now, the judge they had seen after attempting to speak with Landon ensured him of that. It made his blood boil and those needs and wants he had ruthlessly tamped down now came rushing to the forefront, tantalizing him. He could feel her breasts pressing against his chest; her satiny smooth skin met his fingers when he clasped her waist underneath the hem of her shirt. She moved against him, making him want more. His hands drifted down grasping her buttocks and pulling her up into his erection. Since her awakening from the medical scanner he had been fighting his erection, but now it felt as if he would burst inside his pants.

She moved her core enticingly over his pant-clad erection, a groan falling from his lips to mingle with her mewls. He left her lips to kiss her neck wishing they were skin to skin. It wasn’t enough. It would never be enough. He picked her up, her legs wrapping around his hips automatically, walking until her back was supported by the wall and he quickly divested her of her shirt, and throwing it to the floor. She was wearing a plain white bra and while it framed her breasts lovingly, he needed to feel her skin to skin. She leaned forward for him to remove it, and her breasts finally popped free to his gaze. “Beautiful,” he murmured as he descended and took her nipple into his mouth. Her breasts were firm, pale mounds that fit in his hand, topped with delectable pink nipples that tasted like pure sin melting in his mouth. Her moans became a low keening sound when he sucked her nipple taking in as much of her breast as he could.

“Ceylon, I…Please don’t stop!” she gasped. Her panting causing her chest to rise and fall rapidly enticing him to sample what was offered. A fine sheen of sweat dotted her body, causing it to glisten erotically in the iridescent light of the kitchen. He moved to the other nipple, laving it and giving it a tiny nip that had her jerking, causing her core to move furiously over his erection. Her nails dug into his shoulders and her cries became more erratic. She was close, he could feel it, could almost taste her pleasure. One strong suckle of her breast and she cried out her completion. He pulled away and saw her passion glazed green eyes, the flush of her cheeks that only made her more beautiful and she gave him a tiny smile. In that moment he had never wanted a woman more, even Ashwin.

Then the guilt came. He was mauling Ember, dishonoring Ashwin’s memory by wanting her more than he ever did his own mate. How could he do this? Ember must have sensed his rising discomfiture because she cupped his face and brought his eyes back to hers. He could have kicked himself for the hurt he saw there, but it couldn’t be helped. “What’s wrong?” she asked breathlessly concern dripping from every word. He closed his eyes; the hurt he saw in her eyes was enough to bring him to his knees. Instead he released her, catching her when her legs didn’t hold her weight.

“I’m sorry, Ember. I just…I can’t. I...,” he tried to explain but she stopped him with a finger on his lips.

“It’s okay. I understand. Who would want a woman who has been broken?” she said sadly, the tears already forming in her eyes. He could let her assume he didn’t want her, end this torture he put himself through when he felt guilty for wanting her, needing her. But he couldn’t. He needed her to know how much he needed her, needed her to forgive him when he couldn’t forgive himself. So he pulled her into his embrace when she attempted to leave. He took a big breath and he decided to tell her about Ashwin.

“I was mated before. Her name was Ashwin and she died. I didn’t do so well after her death, basically just surviving. I feel guilty because I couldn’t save her. I allowed her to die, even though I saved you. Even though I grew up with Ashwin, played in the same fields, went to the same schools, and knew her like the back of my hand. I loved her, but I feel guilty because I want you. Because I’m beginning to think that I need you. What kind of man am I to dishonor my mate like this?” he replied. He had laid it on the line, and she had the power now. The power to break him, but on some level he knew that she wouldn’t. She was kind and loving. She was also understanding. He knew that she didn’t notice him watching her when she interacted with people. They each received her undivided attention; each became special in her eyes. Hell, she had even made Secundus, the grumpiest person that he knew, smile. She was like her name insisted, an ember just needing the right kindling to light a fire.

“Did Ashwin love you?” she asked.

“Yes, her last words were how much she loved me,” he said his voice breaking as the memories of her death swam through his mind.

“Ceylon, she would want you to be happy. If you don’t live, are you truly happy? People who truly love you want you to be happy,” Ember replied in a whisper.

“I know, but I still feel guilty. I just can’t, not right now,” he replied.

Ember hugged him then left his embrace to replace her shirt. “Then let’s eat. I think you need some time and I need to eat. When you are ready, for anything, I am here,” she said as she took her seat. She beckoned him over and she gave him the reprieve he needed. Her eerie silence had since diminished over time, and she proved to be very outgoing, loving to talk about anything. He loved to make her laugh; it made her entire face light up chasing away the shadows that always seemed to find her. She was beautiful.

***

Landon was beyond angry, his vision a field of red that wouldn’t dissipate, no matter how much he tried to calm himself. How dare that whore start sleeping around and with an alien no less? She would pay and so would he. They wouldn’t see it coming. The red bastard would pay with his life and before he died, he would watch as Landon claimed what was his once more. That bitch would get a taste of pain she had never had before. Ember was his.

He had spent years watching that bitch, her foster care background making her an easy target. She struggled so well in the beginning, her personality not easily accepting defeat, but she had succumbed in the end. How dare she leave him, he hadn’t said she could leave. Now all he had to do was bide his time. They would pay. He smiled to himself as the ice cold calm he strived for years to obtain slid into place. It was time to call in a few favors.

EIGHT

Ember allowed the paint brush to move on its own, the dark red paint taking the shape that played over and over in her dreams last night. Black hair framed a lovely oval face complete with full lips. Her dark eyelashes framed her almond eyes that sported a unique hazel-green gaze. Ember let the brush lead the way, totally relaxing her muscles, like she had so many times before. Ember loved to paint and draw, letting her imagination roam and create beautiful pieces. Her talent had allowed her to stow away money for when she gathered up the courage and an opportunity presented itself for her to escape Landon. Of course, it didn’t exactly work out as she had planned. Her plan involved her walking away, never seeing the cruel bastard again. Fate, however, had a different and fucked up plan for her involving being caught in the act and the painful beat down that followed. She realized without that she never would have met Ceylon which was something hard to fathom.

Other times her art owned her, dreams demanding to be painted or drawn and never leaving her alone until they graced the pages they begged to inhabit. She knew to let herself go and allow the paint or pencil to decide how the art would unfold. She would never verbalize it, but she had several sketched of Ceylon stowed away under a floorboard. She remembered him now, how he graced her dreams. Vivid dreams of him losing the female that her subconscious demand she paint. He did love her, and it almost destroyed him when she died. Some of the elements of the dream didn’t make sense, but he hadn’t told her his entire story, the reason why his people were here in the first place. Thoughts of Ceylon made her sigh. He was all that she could ever ask for in a man. He was beautiful, his baby-face adding to his attractiveness, rather than being off-putting as she would assume. His fine hair fell to his shoulders, and the skin that was a reddish tint only added to his appeal. He towered over her, dwarfing her five foot two frame. Though she hadn’t seen him naked, their many nights sitting on the couch with him embracing her to his chest as she fell asleep, she couldn’t help but feel his muscles firm beneath his shirts.

She knew that he wanted her, his erection was ever present pressing into her backside as she sat with him or on his lap. He was kind and patient. Sometimes she could sense his anger stirring, but she didn’t always know what caused it. If Landon was brought up, his anger made his eyes almost glow with the rage that he suppressed. She trusted him. Even though it was stupid, she trusted him explicitly. She wanted him so bad she could almost taste him on her lips. The orgasm he gave her while she was pressed against the wall, even without fully being skin to skin only whetted her appetite, an appetite she wasn’t sure she had. Years of being forced to have sex with her cruel husband had only convinced her that she didn’t like sex, but she now knew that sex with Ceylon would be anything but unpleasant.

Earthshattering.

Mind-numbing.

Those were words she would bet describe sex with Ceylon. But maybe it wasn’t the prospect of sex with a man who wouldn’t force her, but the idea that she would choose to have sex that made it so enticing. A few more swipes of the paint-brush and Ashwin stared back at her. Words she shared with her during her dream came back, words she had forgotten bombarding her consciousness.

Ember stood in a field, surrounded by flowers and trees as the strange sun began to set on the horizon. The foliage was similar to Earth. There were trees and flowers, but where Earth’s boasted green and multi-colored flowers, this world boasted a reddish landscape. Memories from elementary science class supplied her mind with pictures of Mars. This place reminded her of a Mars teeming with life. A mix of Earth and Mars. Flowers with reddened stems and leaves the color of a fire engine delighted her artistic senses, begging to be painted in the beautiful background of a setting sun. The molten sun that lit this place reminded her of an orange sun, where the Earth’s sun always seemed yellow to her. The beautiful flowers with the reddish stems boasted an even more beautiful flower, its petals an enchanting emerald green. Ember picked the flower, unable to stop herself, taking in its wonderful scent – jasmine, she mused.